Naruto: The Red Dusk
by Konoha Civilian
Summary: Jiraiya finds Naruto in a pitiful state when he returns to the village. Jiraiya decides to break the law and take Naruto away and train him. How will this change the story line... read to find out. Strong and Smart Naruto. NeruTem. M for Graphic killing and maybe sexual references and depending there might be lemons.
1. A Beginning

It was raining. Naruto clutched at the rags he called clothes for any sort of warmth they could give him. The clothes that he had one were the worst clothes that had been donated to the orphanage. He trudged along the empty streets looking for some sort of shelter. Soon he found an ally where construction was taking place and found a place to sleep in a dry spot. He curled up into a ball and cried. He didn't know why he was alone. All he knew was that he was cold tired and completely alone. He had been on the streets for a couple years now. The villagers had beaten him to a bloody pulp on the first night. He had learned very fast that in order to avoid pain it was best not to be seen. He noticed that all of his wounds would heal up right after he received them. It still didn't take away the pain though, and sometimes the villagers left him impaled and bleeding. He hated that the most, pulling knives and random other pieces of metal from his body. After remembering all of the terrible things he had been through he soon gave way to exhaustion and found peace in the depths of his dreams.

Moring came and soon the construction workers arrived and chased off Naruto.

"Get out of here you good for nothing demon!"

Naruto let the tears stream down his face but didn't make a sound as he ran until his legs couldn't move him any further. He collapsed in another ally near the shopping district. Naruto clutched at his stomach as it cried out to him for food. He was lucky that the garbage can he was near was not locked. The villagers started locking their trash cans in order to try and starve him to death. Just as he was about to get up to look through the garbage a man came around the corner with a trash bag in his hand. He looked at Naruto's big blue eyes that seemed to only know pain and suffering.

"Hey kid."

Naruto flinched and covered his head.

The man sighed, "Why don't you come with me and I will get you something to eat."

Naruto shook his head 'no.'

The man knelt down to look the boy in the eyes and held out his hands, "I promise I will not hurt you."

Naruto looked at the man questionably, but nodded his head and followed. After about a minute or so they arrived at a small restaurant that sold ramen. The Man took him to the back of the shop and let Naruto watch while he prepared ramen for him.

By this time Naruto's mouth was watering as he stared at the food being made.

"umm… mister why you helpin' me. Everyun says I'm a demon and don't talk to me."

The man gave a sideways look at Naruto, "The reason I am helping you is simply because I want to. When I opened up my own shop here helping people was the only thing on my mind, but one thing led to another and unless I can somehow sell more ramen my stall is going to go under."

Naruto just sat and listened to the old man talk about how he had a dream that one day he would be the best Chef in all of Konoha.

Naruto smiled, "I have a dream to be the best too. I wanna be one of those guys with their face on the mount'n."

The old man smiled, "Woah there, that's a pretty big dream you got there. Those people on the mountain are the strongest of all the ninja in this village. They are called Hokage."

Naruto raised his fist, "Then someday I will be the Hokage."

Right on que his stomach growled louder than it had ever had before. Naruto looked down at his feet with a blushing face.

The old man smiled, "Well as long as I am serving you food we might as well know each other's names, right? My name is Teuchi. What's yours?"

Naruto looked up and gave him a foxy smile, "my name is Naruto."

"Well then Naruto," Teuchi said as he grabbed a large bowl "order up!"

Naruto tried to take the bowl without seeming too anxious. He carried it into the eating area and hopped up on a stool.

Naruto clasped his hands, "Itakimasu!"

He then dug in to the very large bowl of ramen. Naruto could not even begin to describe how delicious it tasted. As soon as he had put that first bite into his mouth he could swear he heard angels singing.

Teuchi laughed as he saw Naruto's eyes light up… and was that angel's voices he heard?

Tuechi watched the dirty blond boy devour the ramen and came to a decision that he would take the boy home and care for him. 'I can't just let him go back out on the streets.'

"Hey Naruto how would you like to stay with me from now on?"

"Naruto sighed in contentment and smiled, "Nope I can't stay wit you."

Tuechi was not expecting that answer, "W..w. not?"

Naruto got back on his feet still smiling, "Nobody likes me. If I go wit you no one will like you etheir."

With that Naruto booked it out of the store leaving the man alone in the restaurant.

For the month Naruto would show up at closing time and Tuechi would give him ramen. One of the times he gave Naruto some new clothes. Naruto was so happy that he had cried. The two grew very close over the weeks and Naruto started to open up a bit more. Tuechi found out that Naruto was a very determined boy that was pretty positive for what he had gone through.

One night Naruto was half way through the bowl another customer came in.

Teuchi looked at the newcomer and back at Naruto, "Sorry sir we are closed."

The man fell down on his knees dramatically, "noooooooo! I heard this place has the best ramen in the world. All I ask for is one bowl… and I will pay triple."

Teuchi looked rather surprised at the outburst but then shrugged and motioned for the dramatic man to sit down. He plopped down right next to Naruto.

"So gaki, what kind did you get?"

Naruto stared at the man for a moment before mumbling, "Naruto Ramen."

"Ohhhh! I should have gotten that. I've never had it before."

Naruto didn't know what to say so he started eating his ramen again.

The man looked down at Naruto and his eyes widened. After a few more moments of silence…

"Hey gaki, do you know who I am?"

Naruto looked and the man a minute before shaking his head.

The man fell on his face but quickly recovered. "I am the great, all powerful, super sexy, Hermit sage Jiraiya-sama!"

Naruto cocked his head a little signaling he didn't understand.

Jiraiya face-palmed. "I am a very powerful, well known ninja."

Naruto's eyes brightened, "Can you please train me?"

Jiraiya almost face vaulted again, 'that was fast.' "I don't know if you got what it takes kid."

Teuchi had come out during his introduction but waited till now to make his presence known. "Please train him. If you agree you can eat here for free anytime." Teuchi had grown very fond of this boy and he was going to make sure he would achieve his dream if he could.

Jiraiya looked and Teuchi and then Naruto, who had put on the best puppy dog face in the entire world.

"Alright I guess it's settled." He pointed to Naruto "you are coming with me," he pointed at Teuchi, "and you were going to serve me a meal."

Naruto bowed as low as he could and kept saying thank you over and over again. Teuchi just smiled and put the bowl down in front of him.

Jiraiya looked at Naruto, who was still bowing, "Get up gaki. No apprentice of mine will bow to someone until it is absolutely necessary. Now finish your ramen and pack your things. We will be leaving when you are done."

Naruto and Jiraiya finished their meal. Jiraiya took out his pocket book and started writing. He handed the piece of paper to Teuchi, who almost died of shock.

Jiraiya smiled, "Now listen here that is a substantial amount of money. I want you to make this place the best place for ramen on the entire continent." He got closer and whispered quietly, "It's kind of a thank you for taking care of Naruto." He backed up again, "And you better believe I will be eating for free the next time we come back!"

Teuchi had come out of shock enough to bow and say thank you over and over just like Naruto had done earlier.

Jiraiya looked at Naruto who seemed to be waiting on him. "What's the problem gaki? Go get the rest of your stuff and we can go."

Naruto smiled, "I have everything."

Jiraiya's face darkened, "Is that right…"

Naruto turned to Tuechi, "I will be back! I will get stronger and I will become Hokage! Believe it!"

Jiraiya stormed out of the shop with Naruto right behind him he went into the nearest clothing shop and within twenty minutes Naruto had a new outfit.

Naruto now wore navy blue pants with wrappings on his shins with ninja sandals; he had a light blue shirt and a white zip up jacket.

Next was the ninja store where he got a pouch for kuni that he strapped to his leg. He also got a pouch for shuriken that he attached to his belt behind him. Jiraiya also got him bracers for his shins and forearms.

Naruto looked at himself in a mirror and almost laughed at how different he looked.

Jiraiya left the store with Naruto on his heels. "So gaki, how does it feel to be in ninja clothes?"

Naruto raised his fist in the air, "like I am already halfway to becoming Hokage!"

Jiraiya put on a goofy smile and raised an eyebrow, "Hokage, huh? You remind me of my last student too much."

Naruto glared at Jiraiya, "Whats that supposed to mean?"

Jiraiya kept his goofy smile, "if you catch me I might just tell you."

With that Jiraiya started running down the street. Naruto stood there not comprehending what he said…

"Hey! No fair!"

He took off after the old man. Jiraiya let him catch up just enough to give him hope even though he knew that Naruto would never catch him.

"Come on gaki! I'm not even breaking a sweat!" He then proceeded to turn backwards and watch Naruto's progress.

Naruto gritted his teeth and redoubled his efforts. Naruto chased him for a full hour before he collapsed in the dust too tired to go on.

Jiraiya walked up to him and picked Naruto up and placed him on his shoulders.

Naruto looked around from the top of his shoulders, 'I'm no longer alone.' Naruto laughed as Jiraiya took to the roof tops jumping from one to another. Soon they arrived at the east gate.

Jiraiya put Naruto back on the ground and kneeled down so he could be eye level with him. "Alright we will be setting out from this gate but here is the catch. I'm not supposed to take you out of the village so when I do they will probably send a search party after me. It will take a full day of non-stop running to get to where I know we will be safe. You will be riding on my shoulders of course; do you think you can do it?"

Naruto clenched his fist, "I can do it! Believe it!"

Jiraiya smiled, "Ok gaki, let's do it."

Naruto got back on his shoulders and wrapped his hands around his forehead. Jiraiya walked up casually to the check point station. When they saw who was riding on the man's shoulders. They immediately sprung in front of the man with kunai drawn.

"Halt! We have orders not to let that boy outside the city."

Jiraiya took out an envelope and handed it to the guard and then released a large amount of killing intent, "Tell the old man that I am greatly disappointed in him." With that Jiraiya and Naruto stuck out their tongues and pull down on one eye, then turned to mud.

The actual Jiraiya smiled, "The race is on now."

Naruto smiled at the challenge, "I believe in you sensei!"

With that Jiraiya picked up the pace leaping from one branch to another.

The third Hokage sat in his office with the letter Jiraiya had left him with one hand massaging the bridge of his nose. "Send out a search party. I want them captured alive do not harm them under any circumstance." The Anbu in front of his desk vanished in a swirl of leaves.

The third leaned back in his chair to think about what had happened. 'Yes, I completely forgot about Naruto. There was just so much to do after the attack, I just put him in that foster home and didn't even check on him. Still, pulling a stunt like this is going a little far. I can't just label him a missing-nin because of his information network. If we were to lose that information it could be catastrophic. I guess I will have to trust Jiraiya, I know the Anbu won't catch him in fire country.' He sighed, 'I'm sorry Minato. I really messed up."


	2. The Journey Begins

**Hey everyone! I hope all of you like the story so far. This chapter is going to be a little shorter just because I am on the final stretch of school. The teachers are all trying to teach everything they put off all year. Sooooooo yeah... I didn't put this in the first chapter but I don't own Naruto and blah blah blah. Alright and to the story!**

The next morning Naruto woke up just as they crossed into a seemingly endless dessert. Naruto was sore and his face felt it was on fire (from wind burn), but he was not about to complain. 'I have to be strong just like sensei.'

Jiraiya noticed him stirring and reached up to hand him a nutrition bar. "It won't taste very good but it will fill you up and give you all the strength you should need."

Naruto took a bite and almost gaged, "It tastes fine. It's almost as good as ramen."

Jiraiya raised an eyebrow, "Were you dropped on you head as a baby? That stuff is awful."

Naruto managed to swallow the first bite, "Yeah, I'm just trying to be tough like you."

Jiraiya laughed, "I don't think even the greatest of ninja could eat that stuff without shuddering."

They both laughed long and hard trying to imagine different people trying to finish an entire bar.

After another twenty minutes of silence Jiraiya pointed in front of him, "look gaki we are here."

Ahead of them was what looked like a city in the middle of the dessert. Naruto secretly thought that Konoha looked way better. As they neared Jiraiya slowed down until he came to a stop. After quickly unsealing a few brown cloaks he handed one to Naruto.

"Put this on gaki, no one around here walks around without one."

Naruto took the opportunity to stretch and get some of the feeling back in his legs. He then wrapped the cloak around him. It was much too long for him until Jiraiya took out a kunai and cut through the material easily. It wasn't perfect but at least he could walk now.

They walked up to the gate and Jiraiya gave them his papers (that were most likely fake). They got through without any trouble. Jiraiya led them to a back street where he knocked on the door in a certain rhythm. The man cracked the door and then opened it all the way when he recognized who it was.

"Gaki wait here. Don't wander off to far."

He entered the house to talk with the man. Naruto crossed his arms and leaned against the wall and just observed his surroundings. It had not been long when a strange boy holding a ball and a teddy bear started coming down the street. He was looking down at his feet and his eyes were glazed over from crying.

Naruto felt like he was looking at himself only a couple of days ago. He walked up to the boy, "Hey, my name is Naruto. What's yours?

The boy looked up from his feet with a questioning look. He squeaked out "Gaara."

Naruto smiled, "Gaara would you like to play catch with me?"

Gaara nodded hesitantly.

Naruto smiled and opened his hands signaling he was ready.

Gaara threw the ball and Naruto was able to catch it on his first try. Naruto threw it back and Gaara just narrowly missed it. Then the sand from underneath the ball came to life and brought the ball back to Gaara.

Naruto's eyes nearly shot out of his head.

Gaara's gaze returned to his feet, 'he thinks I'm a monster too.'

Naruto recovered enough to exclaim, "That was amazing! How did you do that? Can you do it again?"

Gaara was startled by the outburst, he expected for this new boy to run away in fear just like the others, but he seemed more excited by his sand than afraid. Gaara looked up and squeezed his teddy bear for support. With a wave of his hand the sand flew through the air and condensed into a circle.

Naruto was having a great time watching the sand that Gaara was controlling. "Naruto looked down at his hands, "I wish I could do that." He waved his hands in the air getting no response from the sand at his feet.

Gaara was stunned no one had ever been so friendly to him, much less want to be like him.

Naruto walked up to Gaara, "Hey Gaara, Do you want to be friends? I won't be able to stay for too long but I know I won't ever forget you."

Gaara let a rare smile run across his face and extended his hand, "Naruto my new friend, I will never forget you either."

Naruto shook hands with Gaara, "I'm sure we will meet again. When we do I will have some really cool ninja techniques to show you."

Right when Naruto finished speaking Jiraiya came out of the house with a large backpack on his back. "Hey gaki! We are leaving right now."

Naruto gave Gaara one last smile, "Take care until we meet again Gaara!"

Gaara raised his hand and waved while he mumbled, "you too Naruto."

Jiraiya raised an eyebrow but said nothing. After they got past the gate Jiraiya stopped under what seemed like the only tree in the desert.

"alright Naruto, If you are going to be my pupil you and I both need to take an oath."

Naruto looked at him questioningly.

Jiraiya striated up to his full height, pulled out a kunai and slid it across the palm of his hand, "Naruto, as your sensei I swear to teach you to the best of my ability."

He handed the kunai to Naruto, "You must swear to learn to the best of your ability."

Naruto slid the kuni over his hand and grimaced at the pain, "Sensei, I swear to learn to the best of my ability."

Jiraiya stuck out his hand for a handshake, Naruto grasped it. Naruto turned to the unexplored world ahead of him and smiled with anticipation.

**Yeah I know it was short, but hey you could leave me a review anyway. If you have suggestions or just want to yell at me because I did something you don't like; whatever. Alright and a big thank you for reading, you all are my inspiration for writing.**

**-Konoha Civilian-**


	3. Return to the Village of Fire

Hey everyone Konoha Civilian here! I would like to say some things to my awesome reviewers!

**The Gallant Jaraiya, Adharsh, thewolvesofwar- **I want to thank all of you for making it clear to me that I need longer chapters. I would like to take the time now and say that I will start to have longer chapters. Unfortunately I will also need more time to write the chapters just so you are aware.

**BR0TH3R MENACE-** I totally did not mean for that to be on his shirt this early. I guess I messed up when I had the idea in my head. I did fix that and it is no longer there.

Also I did notice that I misspelled "Gaara." It should be fixed by the time you read this.

I would also like to thank everyone else who has reviewed on this story. Reviews make a story ten times easier to write and for that I thank you.

Okay now to the story!

* * *

-six years later (Naruto age: 11)

Naruto grinned as he finally set foot back in Konoha. He wouldn't say it out loud but he had missed the place he was born, even if everyone had treated him badly.

It had been so long he doubted anyone would remember him. He wore the same style of clothes but had replaced his white jacket with a white trench coat that had short sleeves, and had "Disciple" on the back. He had grown taller, had lost any trace of baby fat, and his hair had grown almost as long as Jiraiya's and was in a loose ponytail that fell down his back.

Naruto took to the roofs by pumping chakra into his legs. He watched the city fly by until he got to the market district. He scanned over the shops until he found a fairly large ramen stand, Ichiraku's. He pulled the flap aside and walked in and sat down on one of the stools.

The cook had his back facing him so Naruto called out to him, "One Naruto ramen please."

The man turned around with a content smile, "Coming right up."

Naruto gaped, "T..Tuechi?"

The old man looked back at the customer with surprise, "Naruto? Is that you? Sheesh you've grown."

Naruto rubbed the back of his head, "You think so? I see that you got a bigger stand. I bet your ramen making skills have at least doubled."

Tuechi smiled, "Well there's only one way to find out."

He turned around and not more than a minute later there was a huge bowl of Naruto ramen sitting in front of Naruto.

Naruto took a bite and got stars in his eyes, "Oh Kami thank you for sharing the recipe for the best ramen in the world!"

Tuechi rubbed the back of his head, "I see you've been taking lessons in drama from that other gentleman."

Naruto smiled like nothing in the world was wrong as he devoured his bowl and let out a loud sigh, "I have to say your ramen is definitely the best out of all five countries."

Tuechi gave him a warm smile, "Well thank you. Where have you been all this time?"

"I have been traveling around for the last six years learning everything I could from Jiraiya-sensei while he has been learning everything he can from the women's bathing areas. He made me come back so I could attend the academy, probably so he could focus more on his book writing." He said the last part with a pout.

"Oh come now Naruto. Everyone needs a boring education. It builds character."

Naruto glared at him while he smiled innocently.

"Well whatever, I have to go build character now. See ya."

With that Naruto disappeared in a swirl of leaves. Naruto appeared out of sight of the academy, 'just like Jiriaya-sensei said rule number one deception. I don't need them to know my true strength yet.' He walked from the ally to the academy with his hands behind his head. Naruto looked around, 'where the hell is everyone?'

Naruto arrived at his classroom and groaned, class had already started. He opened the door slowly and walked in.

The man teaching the class turned to him with an irritated smile, "Hello, I am Iruka. Why don't you tell the class your name."

Naruto looked at the man apologetically while he rubbed the back of his head, "My name is Naruto Uzumaki."

With that he took a vacant seat beside a kid that was sleeping face down on the desk. Naruto smiled and followed his example and drifted off to sleep. When the lunch bell rang Naruto and the kid next to him instantly woke up and went outside and fell asleep in the grass.

Soon a crowd started gathering asking who the new kid was. One emo looking kid noticed that he wasn't being fawned over by everyone and decided to put this issue to rest. He walked up to them and cleared his throat. Neither of them responded to the noise.

A tick mark formed on the boys head, "Hey! Dope, what's your name?"

Naruto let out a snort of laughter and turned to the boy lying next to him, "I think this guy wants to know your name."

"Tch, Troublesome." The boy opened one eye, "My name is Shikamaru Nara. You should know that Sasuke."

With his eyes still closed he smirked.

Sasuke who now had two tick marks on his forehead, "Tell me o…"

"I said it in class. If everyone would have stopped being absorbed in your every movement for a minute they would already know."

Sasuke suddenly slammed his fist down on the ground right next to Naruto's head, who didn't even flinch. "Are you disrespecting the Uchiha clan!?"

There was a long silence, and then Naruto let out a loud snore.

Everyone present face vaulted. Sasuke's eye twitched. He prepared to punch Naruto for real.

Sasuke had just drawn back his fist when Naruto appeared standing up in front of him with his tongue stuck out, "Catch me if you can."

Naruto Turned and sprinted away. 'Rule number two always be able to escape from your enemies.'

Sasuke got on his feet and took off after Naruto, "Come back here you Dope!"

Naruto soon got bored of toying with Sasuke and slipped away. He remembered that he still did not have a place to live yet and it was already past noon.

'Not that it's that big of a deal but I should probably find a place to stay while I'm here.'

He took to the roofs and started looking for an apartment of some kind. After searching for a while he found a taller building with the top room open. He quickly found the manager and requested the room. The manager didn't recognize him so he got the room.

He entered the room and looked around. There was a mattress, wood table, and appliances. He smirked, "My own room." Naruto had never had his own room, heck he didn't even have a room before he left with Jiraiya-sensei.

Naruto laid down on the mattress and thought about how dumb it was that he had to go to the academy. 'Doesn't being trained by a Sanin qualify me as at least a Genin.' He sighed.

"Knock, knock"

Naruto turned to his door where and man even older than Jiraiya stood. Naruto got to his feet, "Hokage-sama."

The man faked a smile, "I have a few questions for you. I would like to know what Jiraiya has told you and how far along your training has come."

Naruto stared back impassively, "Jiraiya-sensei told me enough and my training has progressed enough."

The Hokage chuckled, "You know we have other ways of finding out information."

Naruto smiled back politely, "I would recommend against that. I seem to be growing tired from holding the Kuubi at bay."

The Hokage's eyes narrowed, "Is that a threat?"

"Is what you said a threat? I will not be pushed around like I was as a kid Hokage-_sama._ I am no longer the helpless kid left out on the street to survive on his own."

This shocked the Hokage, but he smiled and held up his hands, "That's good to know; but this is a threat, if you do anything to harm this village you will not be shown mercy."

Naruto waved him off, "If I was going to do that I wouldn't have let myself be seen."

The Hokage nodded, "Well then, until next time." He then walked out the door and shut it on his way out.

Naruto looked out his window where he knew three Anbu were watching him. He waved to them and then shut the blinds.

The school year went similar to the first day. Naruto would sleep through class and get in trouble. Whenever Sasuke would try to fight him he would run away never letting the idiot catch him. He would eat ramen almost every day and talk with Tuechi about anything that came up. Every day he would give the Anbu watching him the slip by switching with a shadow clone, and going to the most remote training grounds that no one generally used and train what Jiraiya-sensei had taught him.

On the last day at the academy Naruto was actually awake, "Finally we get to get out of here."

Shikamaru, who still had his eyes closed, grunted in agreement.

Sasuke over heard him and shouted, "Dope! Everyone knows that you're not going to pass!"

Naruto didn't even turn his head, "I hope I don't get partnered with that emo guy… umm what was his name again?"

The room got visibly darker, "Dope, if you are on my team I will make sure to beat you into the ground every day."

Naruto smiled at him, "You have some serious anger issues."

Sasuke got up to go fight Naruto, but Iruka entered the classroom right as Sasuke had taken his first step.

Saskue glared at Naruto but sat back down.

Iruka grinned at the class, "Today is the day you get to take the Genin exam. I wish all of you luck. We will call you one by one to perform the three basic jutsu, after that there will be a spare between all students picked at random."

Naruto slept until he heard his name being called. He went into the room and sleepily performed the three basic jutsu very well.

Iruka was a little surprised that he was able to do them. 'All he does is sleep in class and he did everything perfectly. Who is this kid?"

As soon as everyone had gone they announced who had failed in order to narrow the group down. When there were only a few Genin hopefuls left they went outside for the spare.

Iruka called out the first match, "The first match will be Naruto vs. Sasuke!"

Sasuke grinned while Naruto remained emotionless. They approached Iruka, faced each other, and shook hands signifying it was a fight between allies not enemies.

Iruka then stated the rules, "This is a friendly spar. You have to stay in the circle and either knock out your opponent, or force them to yield. Do you understand?"

Both Naruto and Sasuke nodded and took up their positions on either side of the circle.

Sasuke sneered, "Nowhere to run now dope!"

Naruto looked at Sasuke without emotion, "Your confidence will be your down fall. It will be good for you to be knocked down a peg or two." 'Rule number three, wait for your opponent to make a mistake.'

Sasuke narrowed his eyes and growled, "Do you really think you can beat me!?"

Sasuke charged Naruto with a fist drawn back. Naruto got in a ready position and moved his head slightly so that Sasuke's fist went by without touching him. Naruto then turned his foot just enough to turn his body and pushed Sasuke with an open palm and sent him sprawling in the dirt outside of the circle. There was a slight silence before an angry roar from the crowd that surrounded the circle. Naruto took note that not everyone was yelling at him. There were quite a few people who looked a mixture of surprised and satisfied.

Iruka looked a little surprised as well but he called out, "The winner is Naruto!"

Iruka then handed Naruto his head band while smiling, "Continue to surprise us all."

Naruto smiled back as he took the headband, "Thank you Iruka-sensei." Without another word he disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

Iruka's eyes widened, "That kid is something else."

-Back with Naruto-

"It was great! You should have seen the look on his face, it was hilarious!"

Tuechi smiled at the young man in front of him, "Sounds like you actually had fun at school today."

Another man stepped through the entrance to the stall, "Alright, free ramen!"

Naruto spun around to find Jiraiya standing there smiling proudly at him. Before Naruto could react Jiraiya had hoisted him on to his shoulders and danced around the restaurant. Naruto tried to pretend that he was mad but it was a lost cause to stay mad at Jiraiya.

"Jiraiya-sensei! Let me down!"

Jiraiya did not let him down quite yet, "Awww come on. It's time to celebrate you are finally a Genin!"

Naruto rolled his eyes, "you know that I am well above Genin level."

Jiraiya finally let him down, "So what you're saying is that you don't want the gifts I got you for graduation."

Naruto pouted, "No please. I do, I do."

Jiraiya reached into the pouch on his back and pulled out an orange book and a bottle of sake and handed them to Naruto.

Naruto took the gifts and raised an eyebrow.

Jiraiya grinned mischievously, "you are now an adult, and as such you have a right to both things in your hands."

Tuechi watched the exchange with wide eyes, "… wha… wh… That's not appropriate for someone his age!"

Jiraiya turned to him, "Oh, I see we have another fan of my work present." He took out another copy and sighed his name in it and laid it down on the counter.

Tuechi looked from side to side and suddenly the book was gone and up his sleeve. "I'll bet you will love that book Naruto!" Tuechi said with a thumbs up.

Naruto and Jiraiya laughed and enjoyed a bowl of ramen while the three of them joked and laughed the rest of the time until Naruto got up and saying thank you to each of them and bid them farewell.

Naruto returned to the academy for the team assignments that were taking place. He walked in just as team seven was being announced.

"Team seven will consist of Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura."

There was a loud squeaking screaming sound that came from Sakura. Sasuke just sneered at Naruto.

Naruto face palmed, 'someone really hates me.'

"You may all wait for your new sensei's here. They should be arriving shortly."

Every sensei came and go there group except for team seven.

After thirty minutes of waiting Naruto got fed up with waiting, "If our sensei ever does show up tell him that if I'm not worth his time then he is not worth mine."

With that he disappeared in a swirl of leaves. Both Sasuke and Sakura stared at where he had been with wide eyes.

Sasuke was surprised that Naruto could do a shunshin and Sakura was surprised that he was breaking the rules.

Instead of going back to his house Naruto decided it was about time he went and had another talk with the Hokage. He took to the roofs and before long arrived in the middle of the village where the Hokage's office was located. He entered in and asked the secretary if she would let him have and audience with the Hokage.

She looked up and him and waved him away, "He is very busy and does not have time for kids like you."

Naruto rolled his eyes, "Old Man! I need to talk to you!" He yelled loud enough that the sound should reach the office down the hall.

The secretary glared at him, "How dare you address the Hokage in such a way!"

Just before she could start a huge lecture the door opened and the Hokage smiled brightly at him while waving him in.

Naruto smiled at the secretary, who glared daggers back at him. Naruto entered the office and closed the door behind him. The Hokage sat down at his desk and motioned for him to take a seat as well. Naruto sat down and folded his hands on his lap.

"I need to talk to you about the Anbu that have been watching me for the last year."

The Hokage leaned back in his chair, "I see. What would you like to talk about?"

"I would like them to stop watching me because I will now be part of a team who will have its own sensei watching me. I mean really if you need more than a year to determine if I'm a threat then the security in this village is worse than I thought."

The Hokage clasped his hands in front of his mouth, "I see you have a Leaf headband on."

"Ya, so what?"

"I want you to promise me on that headband that you will do nothing to harm this village."

Naruto thought for a moment, "I will not do anything to harm this village unless I am ordered to by you or Jiraiya-sensei."

The Hokage smiled and nodded his head, "Bird, Monkey, Cat!" Three people appeared in the room on their knee. "I now relieve you of the duty of watching Naruto Uzumaki." They nodded their heads and left without a sound.

Naruto smiled, "Thank you very much, and if you have anyone else watching me who is not my sensei I will know and there will be unrest in the streets with all of the pranks I pull."

The Hokage nodded again.

Naruto saluted and disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

He arrived back at his apartment and sighed, his door was wide open. He knew he would eventually get robbed, but he wanted to be there when it happened. He pouted to himself about the lucky bastard that must have gotten away.

Naruto then heard a sound it was feint but sounded like someone just turned a page in a book. Naruto rushed into his apartment only to trip on a wire and get tangled up and pined to a wall with the wire wrapped around him. The man was sitting at his kitchen table looking at an orange book blankly.

His lone eye moved up to meet Naruto's, "I hear that I'm not worth your time."

Naruto laughed, "Only if I'm not worth yours."

The man went back to his reading, "So are you worth my time?"

Naruto cocked his head toward his bed where another Naruto was laying down reading the same orange book, "I don't know you tell me." The clone of Naruto that was pinned to the wall disappeared in a "poof" of smoke.

Kakashi looked at the book he was reading, "Yeah, I think we will get along fine. My name is Kakashi. I will be your new sensei." 'This kid is good I didn't even realize it was a shadow clone. I guess that's what happens when you are trained by a sage.' Kakashi got up and started to walk out before calling over his shoulder, "Team test tomorrow at nine on the dot."

Naruto waved him off, "Yeah, yeah, I'll be there."

Kakashi closed the door behind him.

Naruto stood up and stripped to get ready for bed. Once he was only in his boxers he heard a light knock on his door. He sighed for what felt like the millionth time that day and went over to open in without putting on any clothes. He opened the door wide to reveal his two teammates.

"Yo."

Sakura immediately turned red and couldn't seem to take her eyes away from Naruto's defined body. "Uh…Uh…We…Uh…"

Sasuke rolled his eyes, "Our Sensei, Kakashi told us to be at our scheduled training ground tomorrow at six in the morning sharp."

Naruto laughed in his head while he kept a straight face, "Okay. I will see you two tomorrow."

Sasuke glared at Naruto, "I am nobody's messenger boy, don't expect me t…"

Naruto slammed the door in his face and went back to lie on his bed. After a short while of Sasuke yelling at him through the door he finally went away and Naruto finally shut his eyes to go to sleep.

The next morning Naruto woke and stretched before going through the morning ritual of washing brushing and making sure he was at least half way presentable. He looked at the clock, 'only eight, huh.'

Naruto put on his coat. He never understood why it always felt so good to wear one. He knew his father had worn one when he was the Hokage, but it just made him feel secure. It was his way of being close to the dad he had never known. He then put his headband on his forehead to keep most of his hair out of his face and put on his bracers for his forearms and shins. Looking in the mirror he smile, "Sure looks like the next Hokage to me."

Naruto arrived at the training ground at around eight thirty and walked up to Sasuke and Sakura who looked like they were barely alive.

Sakura noticed him first and was about to yell at him until she remembered last night. She again turned insanely red and twiddled her fingers.

Sasuke noticed when he walked past and just snorted.

Naruto just sat down on the ground and started meditating. Once he was able to block out all the sounds from the world like Jiraiya had taught him, he entered his mind. There in front of him was a park that looked more like a forest with a huge gate in front of it. He entered through the gap in the bars and walked until he came upon a clearing where a huge fox was sleeping.

"Oi! Kurama! Don't you do anything but sleep."

The giant fox opened one blood red eye, "No." Then it shut its eye again.

Naruto face vaulted, after he picked himself off of the ground he crossed his arms, "So this is supposed to be a test for my team. Do you think I should show what I'm really made of."

Kurama yawned, "Why are you asking me? I would always try to keep my full power hidden. Just play it by ear if your full power is required then use it, but if not then don't show it."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. I'm just bored so I thought I would come see you for a while."

Kurama snorted, "Well as long as you're here, you should make something for me to battle. Every time you fight I feel the adrenaline and end up frustrated because the trees here just regenerate and piss me off."

Naruto smiled and closed his eyes and concentrated, in a "poof" of smoke a huge bright orange fox appeared behind Naruto. Naruto patted it on its snout, "I think this thing will even give you a run for your money. It will start fighting when I start and it won't stop until I do."

Kurama smiled, "Remember that you have not seen my true power. Now get lost your sensei is coming."

Naruto faded from sight while waving.

-Back in the real world-

Naruto looked up right as Kakashi walked up to them holding two bells. "Today you will have to get one of these two bells, by any means necessary, in order to pass the exam."

Sakura asked the obvious question, "Does that mean that one of us will fail no matter what?"

Kakashi eye smiled, "That's right. You will be sent back to the academy for an entire year."

Both Sasuke and Sakura clenched their fists in determination while Naruto just rolled his eyes.

Naruto then raised his hand and asked, "Does this mean we use lethal force in order to achieve the goal?"

Kakashi was calm and collected when he told them they would have to use lethal force, but he was silently worrying about Naruto using lethal force.

Naruto nodded.

Kakashi attached the bells to his belt, then yelled, "Start!"

Kakashi watched as Sasuke and Sakura ran off to hide and find an opening. Naruto remained standing in front of him with his arms crossed.

Kakashi put his book away and readied himself, he was not going to underestimate Naruto again. "Lesson one tai-jutsu."

Naruto got into a sturdy stance that looked as if he could spring away or toward his opponent at any time. 'I will start with the style that Jiraiya-sensei taught me.'

They both waited for a few moments and then sprang at each other and engaged Kakashi went at about a medium effort and was surprised to see that Naruto was not only keeping up but pushing him back. The stance seemed to use a sturdy stance to block and chakra to stick his feet to the ground for more stability. He also relied on grabbing over extended punches and kicks as well as pushing the enemy off balance in order to get a solid hit on his opponent. Lucky for Kakshi his own style was all about speed and dodging while finding the weakness in the opponent tai-jutsu. He found that Naruto was not very mobile because of the use of chakra to stick himself to the ground. Kakashi increased his effort level a little to get an advantage and ended up behind Naruto and attempted to punch him in the back of the head to knock him out. Naruto saw him get behind him and over charged the chakra in his feet and repelled himself from the ground and went into a backflip over Kakshi's fist and kicked him in the face with both feet. Kakashi turned into a log and the real Kakashi burst from the ground and delivered a powerful punch into Naruto's stomach sending him flying into the nearby river.

Kakashi gathered his wits just in time to do another substitution to avoid becoming a pin cushion. He located Sasuke who cursed when the fake Kakashi turned into a log.

Sasuke took off in the opposite direction trying to put distance in between him and Kakashi. Kakashi took off after him and soon caught up to him and had a shadow clone engage him. Sasuke did pretty good but after he used a fireball jutsu he could hardly stand. Kakashi left him to regain his strength.

He then headed off to find Sakura and once he found her he wasted no time in putting her into a genin level gen-jutsu. She didn't realize it was gen-jutsu and screamed shortly before passing out. Kakashi just shook his head.

"Are you done testing them yet?"

Kakashi looked up to see Naruto in the tree above him. "I still need to talk to you a bit too. Were you going all out in our fight earlier?"

Naruto shook his head in the negative, "I would say I was giving about three quarters effort and I was using my secondary style."

Kakashi nodded, "how about your jutsu list?"

Naruto scratched his head, "I kinda lost count how many I have, but I have three chakra natures. Wind and Lighting are mine personally and I have control over fire because of the fox. I can only use them separately though."

Kakashi nodded again slowly, "how about your gen-jutsu?"

Naruto rubbed the back of his head, "I can't cast any, but can break almost any of them."

Kakashi nodded again, "Well I am sure you know that the reason I was assigned to this team was to teach Sasuke almost exclusively. I can give you jutsu to work on but that is about it."

Naruto nodded, "yeah, I figured as much. I have things to work on that Jiraiya-sensei gave me. I have also heard about a few Jonin that I want to ask for help in building my skills. Is it cool if I only come to the teamwork days?"

Kakashi shrugged, "you might as well. Other than standing around or climbing trees you won't be doing anything."

Naruto nodded again, "So I guess I should tell them the real point of this test so we can finish up."

Kakashi nodded and pulled out his book, "that would be nice. I have a hard time reading with all the noise."

-Later-

Naruto and Sakura ran into Sasuke who seemed to be just barely recovering from using his fireball jutsu.

Naruto looked at the other two, "okay, I think we have established that none of us can take Kakashi-sensei on alone. We need to work as a team in order to get the bells."

Sasuke sneered, "I will not go back to the academy!"

Naruto rolled his eyes, "Have you ever heard of a two man team before? This is obviously just a test for teamwork, but I'll tell you what, if one of us has to go back then I will go."

Sasuke smirked, "I'd probably be good for you dope."

Naruto punched Sasuke so hard in the face that his neck broke and he died. Now back to reality. "Yeah whatever teme."

"This is how we will do it."

Kakashi sat in the middle of the original field waiting for the genin to come up with something. He flipped a page just as several kunai and shuriken shot out from the trees. Kakashi dodged as three genin came out of their hiding places and all engaged Kakashi all at once. They all went for a bell only for Kakashi to switch places with a log and appear next to them with completed hand seals for a water prison jutsu. The jutsu caught all three of them and forced them to surrender.

All three of them sat on the ground panting.

Kakashi took in a deep breath, "Now it is my great please to tell you…you pass. Remember that teamwork is the best tool for a ninja. Those who abandon their friends are worse than scum."

They all looked dumbly at their sensei until he disappeared in a burst of smoke.

Naruto was the first to recover and left as soon as possible via shunshin.

* * *

Hope you enjoyed it. I was a little longer and I hope I spelled people's names right. Please review it makes writing the next chapter so much easier. Also you should know that now that the chapters are longer I will probably take two weeks to update. Thank you for all of your support.

-Konoha Civilian out!


	4. Training Days

**Hey everyone Kanoha Civilian here! I am sorry that I haven't updated in a while. It was crazy trying to write while graduation for my family was happening so I put it off. I know lots of you are going to hate me but the chapter is not to terrible long. I just wanted to update so you don't think I am dead. **

-**Important-**

**I would like to tell all of you that the story so far is just the back story to what I want to write my story on. Eventually I will get to a point where we don't skip through time so much and there is more of an actual plot. Just FYI.**

4:30 am "THE SPRING TIME OF YOUTH!"

Naruto was awakened by a man shouting and banging on his door. Naruto went to the door and opened it, not knowing if he was still dreaming or not. Once he opened it there were two people in a tight green spandex uniform with large smiles and bushy eyebrows.

The taller one held out his hand, "I AM MAITO-GAI AND THIS IS MY DEVOTED PUPIL LEE-KUN! KAKASHI SAID THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO TRAIN WITH US EVERY MORNING!"

Naruto grumbled and went back into his apartment and got ready. As soon as he was done Gai handed him a pair of weights with a blinding smile. Naruto took them and nearly dropped them because of how heavy they were. Naruto put them on his arms and legs and the three of them set out to run around Konoha.

Naruto was hard pressed to keep up with the two bundles of energy, but he managed to stay with them. When they finally stopped running after three hours Naruto collapsed on the ground panting.

Lee came up to Naruto, "ARE YOU ALRIGHT?!"

Naruto nodded, "Ya, I'm fine. By the way I hear you can't use nin-jutsu or tai-jutsu at all. How do you get along in the ninja world?"

Lee smiled like his sensei and held up his thumb, "THROUGH HARD WORK!"

Naruto had finally caught his breath and stood up, "I would like to see your hard work in action. Would you mind having a spar with me?"

Lee made a fist and fire seemed to shoot from his eyes, "LET US TEST OUR SPRING TIME OF YOUTH ANGAINST EACH OTHER IN A MOST YOUTHFUL WAY!"

Gai smiled blinding everyone again, "LET US HAVE A MOST YOUTHFUL MATCH!"

Naruto and Lee faced off on either side of a clearing that they had found to spar in. Lee got into his stance with one hand held out and a deep calm seemed to overtake him. Naruto could tell Lee was very serious and would try as hard as he could during this match. Naruto got into his primary style, the Fox style.

"Lee during this match I will only use tai-jutsu."

"A most youthful thing to do."

Naruto noted that he did not yell; he was entirely focused. He readied himself. Lee charged Naruto strait on and engaged him with quick punches and kicks. Naruto slipped around the punches and deflected others, but the ones he deflected seemed to still have a heavy impact. Naruto realized that one of those punches could put him out for good. He ducked under another punch and caught the leg that came up for a kick and threw Lee backwards to get some space. Lee stood in his ready position, not even winded. Naruto stood back up and got back in his stance. Lee once again rushed him, instead of just blocking or deflecting Naruto threw punches and kicks back. Naruto managed to land a few punches that were not very powerful until Lee hit him square in the chest. Naruto slid back five feet dragging his feet the whole way. Lee was there in his ready stance watching Naruto carefully. Naruto spit up some blood and smiled. This time Naruto charged in and put Lee on the defensive soon Naruto was able to land a solid hit on Lee's shoulder. The hit spun him around and made him lose his bearings. Naruto capitalized on this and pressed his attack soon they were in a stand still trading punches and kicks, neither getting solid hits and both smiling.

Gai was standing on the sidelines where it sounded like thunder from a huge thunderstorm was raining down. He watched as Naruto and Lee fought on even grounds.

There was a resounding crack as Naruto and Lee's fists collided and pushed against each other, neither one was willing to admit defeat. The ground around Naruto and Lee started to compress and crack under the pressure. Both started to yell and put every ounce of strength they had into it. Suddenly Lee flew backward at high speed and collided with a tree. Naruto walked up to Lee breathing heavily and reached out his hand. Lee was able to stay conscious and extended his hand to Naruto, who pulled him up and supported him over to his sensei.

"WHAT A YOUTHFUL SPAR THAT WAS!"

Lee suddenly stood up strait, "GAI-SENSEI! I WILL TRAIN EVEN HARDER AND WILL WIN IN OUR NEXT SPAR!"

"LEE"

"GAI-SENSEI"

"LEE"

"GAI-SENSEI"

They both hugged and a sunset on a beach appeared behind them. Naruto, try as he might could not look away as the scene played out in front of him. His eye started twitching and his mind seemed to focus on nothing but the scene in front of him. As soon as it was done Naruto collapsed and was twitching and foaming at the mouth.

Lee looked in concern at his new rival, "NARUTO-SAN ARE YOU ALRIGHT?! QUICK GAI-SENSEI, TO THE HOSPITAL!"

The two green clad ninja's took off in a green blur carrying Naruto between them.

-The next day-

Naruto exited the mental treatment section of the hospital. "It's okay, I'm fine. All I have to do is not think about it."

Naruto jumped up to the roofs and went to the one place he could always count on to have the best food in the world, Ichiraku's.

Naruto sat down at the bar and quickly getting a bowl set down in front of him. Teuchi winked at him, but had too many customers to stay and talk. Naruto just enjoyed his ramen.

Later he found team ten at their usual barbeque place. Naruto walked up to their table and nodded his head at Shikamaru.

He bowed, "Asuma-san, I was wondering if you could show me how to use the chakra blades you are so famous for. In return I will do anything you ask of me."

Asuma looked up from his meal, "I guess I could show you a thing or two since my team has the rest of the day off. In return I would like you to deliver a message for me. I would go myself but I am just too lazy."

Naruto nodded with a straight face but was super excited to learn how to wield chakra blades. Asuma got up and walked slowly toward a training field. On the way he lit up a cigarette and took a deep drag.

'It is so strange that Asuma is one of the only wind users I know of and he is the only ninja that smokes.' Naruto shrugged his shoulders at the thought.

Finally they arrived at a training ground.

Asuma turned around and pulled out his knives and stood in a ready position. "These trench knives are made out of chakra conducting material. I use my wind chakra and pump it though the material. This makes the knives almost indestructible and sharp enough to cut through steel."

He tossed one of the knives to Naruto who caught it with ease. "Remember when you pump chakra into the blade that the more you put in the bigger it will get. I wouldn't advise using a large amount of chakra, because it will eventually erode the metal and they will be harder to work with. Also remember that these knives are specially made to use wind chakra. They won't respond if you use regular chakra or a different chakra nature."

Naruto listened intently and once Asuma finished held the blade out in front of him. He put some wind chakra into the blade and could feel that it was working, but couldn't tell how long it was. He looked up at Asuma questionably.

Asuma just pumped wind chakra into his blade and swung it at the empty space to the side of the blade. Asuma's blade stopped and he slid his knife down until he got about two feet from the edge of Naruto's blade.

"I would say that you probably don't want to have the blade any longer than this. Try to put less chakra in to it."

Naruto focused and brought down the chakra level slowly. After a few minutes Asuma's blade slipped off of the invisible wind-blade.

"There you go. Now remember how that feels. That is where you are going to want to keep the length when you fight."

Naruto nodded, "Thank you for the lesson."

Asuma nodded his head, "Oh, wait. I almost forgot. You can also charge the blades with chakra and throw them."

He threw the blade he had without charging it and it stuck cleanly into a tree. He motioned for the other knife, which Naruto threw him. He charged the second blade and throws it through a boulder and stuck it in the tree behind it.

"Do you see the differences?"

Naruto rolled his eyes, "Yes, Thank you again for the lesson Asuma-san."

Asuma nodded and handed Nauto an envelope, "I need you to deliver this to Kurunei. She hangs out with that Anko woman, I'm sure you have heard about her by now."

Naruto shook his head no.

Asuma just shook his head, "just be careful kid."

Naruto headed straight for the ninja outfitting section of the shopping district. He walked into an older looking shop and looked around. No one was there but there were weapons of all sizes and shapes all around the store. Naruto walked up to the counter and knocked on the wood and waited for someone to help him. Not too much later a young girl came out of the back with sweat pouring off of her from working on the weapons.

"Can I help you?"

"I think so. Do you sell chakra blades here?"

"Yes, but they are much more expensive."

Naruto nodded, "That's fine I need two sets, one or wind chakra and one for lighting chakra."

The girl behind the counter scribbled the order on a piece of paper, "What shape would you like them in?"

"Umm, I guess trench knives like Asuma-san has."

"The girl smiled, "Well aren't you lucky. I am the one who makes his blades for him so I have an extra set of the wind chakra ones. The lighting chakra set will take about a week to make. You can pay for both now if you want and take the wind chakra ones and pick up the lighting chakra set in a week if you want."

Naruto shrugged, "Why not."

She smiled and handed him the receipt. Naruto's eyebrows rose at the price, but he didn't say anything and handed over the money in cash. Now it was the girls turn to raise her eyebrows. She took the money and handed over the wind blades.

Naruto took them and for the first time appreciated the amazing craftsmanship. The blade was curved slightly though the back of the blade was completely straight. The material had straight ridges that provided better grip. He ran a finger horizontally across the blade. The blade seemed to stick to his skin, indicating how incredibly sharp it was.

The girl behind the counter smiled at his approving eye, "If you ever need a new set just come back and ask for Tenten, okay?"

"Yeah, sure thing."

He started to leave before being stopped by Tenten who was holding a pouch for the knives. "Those are really sharp and might cut through anything else you put them in." She handed him the pouch, "It's on the house." She then turned around and disappeared back into the shop.

Naruto yelled out a thank you and put the knives into the pouch and strapped them to his upper thighs.

From there he went to find Kurunei. Though he did not know where she might be he decided that starting with asking the Hokage would be a good idea. He made his way towards the Hokage tower, but before he could get there he heard a drunken woman screaming that she didn't want to go home.

Naruto curiously jumped up to the roof as one woman chased after the other.

"Get Back here Anko! You have to go home you can't stay out here drunk by yourself."

"Ta hell I can't! I'll do what I want!"

Naruto caught up to the one who was chasing Anko, "Umm, I know this is a bad time but are you Kurunei?"

The Jonin looked irritated at him, "Yes, yes, What do you want?"

Naruto held out the letter, "Asuma-san wanted you to have this."

Just as Kurunei was about to accept the letter Anko dashed in and took it. Kurunei sped after her.

Anko started reading, "OHHH, That man of yours is a feisty one. I can't believe he would do those sorts of things to you… Wow I haven't even tried that before."

Kurunei's face became super red and she instantly used one of her best genjutsu's to shut her up. She then glared at Naruto who held his hands up in innocents and slowly backed away.

'That was weird. Now to work on the stuff that Jiraiya-sensei left for me.'

Naruto found a secluded training ground that no one uses. He opened his mind and did not feel any chakra signatures coming from anywhere near him. He then unrolled the scroll that Jiraiya had given him he practiced on the nin-jutsu that he had left until it was dark and he was sweaty and tired and even with the foxes help was bordering on chakra exhaustion. Naruto got himself back to his apartment and collapsed on the bed and fell asleep instantly.

**Soooooooo how was it? Please review and tel me what you think. I will try to keep on schedule for updates but no promises. **

**-Konoha Civilian out!**


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